For the past few years Hedge Funds and other large western institutions have been buying up huge swathes of land in Africa – equivalent to an area the size of France. This is detrimental because the land which is being bought is being leased from african governments however the land is inhabited by local Africans. Up to 90% of African land is untitled and hence owned by the state. This all means that Africans are being driven off their land which they need to farm, work and live off and is detrimental because the western institutions buying up the land are not using it for any purpose but to make themselves richer. The point is that the land is now being unused when it is needed by local Africans for the reasons stated.

What is happening is that because most of the land is untitled and ownded by the state corrupt government electives are selling it off to western institutions so that they get a piece of the pie. This should really be illegal because the land is owned by the people and should be used for the people. It is not right that officials should sell off land which is not theirs for personal profit.

Unfortunately it is yet another example of how western financial institutions are making money at the expense of everyone else.

The solutions to this problem are;

1) Stop African Government Electives from having stakes in the western financial institutions investments by having an international body to monitor and prosecute them if they cross the line.
2) Give African communities who currently have land the rights to that land.
3) Prevent the land from being given to foreign institutions and create a system to ensure that land is primarily given to and used by small scale farmers.
4) Recognize the rights of local Africans by providing a good legal structure